The Minimum Ride
by Storm Etienne
Summary: It was not my fault. I was flying, minding my own business. I have wings, I suppose nothing fazes you people of the new generation after the Iphone 5. I felt a blow to my back, knocking my breath out. When I turned around I saw: another one of my kind.
1. Chapter 1

It was not my fault. I was flying, minding my own business. I have wings, I suppose nothing fazes you people of the new generation after the Iphone 5. I felt a blow to my back, knocking my breath out. When I turned around I saw: another one of my kind. It was small boy, possibly eight or nine years old. He had dirty blond hair and mischievous blue eyes. His wings were spread out behind him: a grey-brown, they looked incredibly sturdy. We hovered in the air for a moment taking the other's existence. Before he could say a word I flew away.

Most humans are born with the fight or flight response. I was born with the flight or flight response. Not many options but it kept me safe all these years. I took to the forest below me, I like the nature and my camouflaged appearance served me well. I was balanced upon a tree limb, carefully watching for signs of movement. Silence filled the air. "Not running away again are you?" a cool voice spoke from behind me. Not even thinking I put my hand in a knife position and swung it around me at forehead height. Taken by surprise, I saw a tall girl with brown eyes and sun streaked hair step back in surprise but she regained quickly. She folded her wings ready for battle.

We were locked in a tight tense battle; it was clear she was an experienced fighter and was used to winning. That's too bad because I was born to win, to always come out on top. Eventually she was hanging of the branch surprised that she had been beaten. Get used to it. I nimbly ran across the branch, only to be confronted by more bird kids. I didn't like to hurt people but I did what I had to to get them out of my way. I threw myself forward taking each down in one or two strikes. There was a dark skinned girl my height with brown curly hair with her fists up in a fighting position but before she knew it I had kicked the back of her knee out. She crumpled and almost fell of the branch before grabbing it with the tips of her fingers. There was the boy I saw earlier and a girl who like her sister. I picked them up easily and threw them behind me. In front of me was a tall skinny boy who reminded me of the colour white. He looked disoriented and I realized he was blind. I threw a knife around him snapping a branch, causing him to turn around and I sprinted across the branch ready for take off, grabbing the knife just before it fell.

I had just unfolded my wing when a black flash came at me, pinning me to a tree with his hands at my throat. My knife tumbled out of my hand. Shoot I had forgot one. I saw my attacker had a calm expression on his face as he cheerfully me brought closer and closer to death. His eyebrows furrowed and his finger traced the outline of my mask. The mask. It was black and grey and covered the right half of my face. It had molded in my skin and stretched as I grew. He tried to pull it off but it was tied tightly by me. Must win. Must win. I stopped struggling and he seemed to think that I had given up. Gathering my energy I inhaled and burst out, catching him by surprise. I quickly realized that I didn't have enough energy for launch and I started falling toward the ground. I was unable to close my wings and the branches and thorns were cutting into them as well as my arms and my face. I finally thudded on the ground, my eyes fluttering closed just as my world went dark.

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**Hey guys! This is my first fan fiction! Sorry it's kinda short, I'm not very good at filler material. I have so many plans for this story and I can't wait to write it! Please review, your comments are appreciated! Question of the chapter: _If you had wings, what would they look like?_  
**

**Over and out, Storm  
**


	2. Chapter 2

When I came to my senses, I was lying by a campfire, carefully wrapped in a wool blanket. I sat up and saw the six bird kids I knew all to well. Jumping to my feet, I sprang up and started running.  
"Wait" a voice called out after me. I turned around and saw that it was the girl from before. It was nighttime, a good time for me because it allowed me to run and hide. While most of the bird kids were tall for their age, I was small for my age, allowing me to hide and blend with my background easily. Unfortunately we are all equally underfed and super skinny. Should I go back?  
"We just want to talk". I thought for a moment before reluctantly returning.  
"What's your name kiddo?" Well then she was going to pull the your a kid and I'm an adult? I was only four months younger than her.  
"I'm Max" she said and the rest of the flock chimed in saying their name. The girl with the dark skin and brown hair was named Nudge, the two siblings were Gazzy and Angel, the blind guy was Iggy and the dark guy who almost killed me was Fang.  
"What's your name?" she repeated. I didn't say anything. I haven't spoken in nine years. See what that's done to my sanity?  
"She almost talks as much as you" Max said to Fang. Fang gave her a dry look.  
"You don't have to talk until you're ready" Max said kindly.  
I looked at all of them until my eyes fell upon Angel who was peering at me oddly. She was a mind reader. They had taught me about them back where I came from. I instituted a mind block. It was quite simple, just imagine a brick wall between your mind and the mind reader's. She looked confused that I had known what she was. I glanced at Fang. He looked so familiar and than it struck me. I remembered that moment so clearly.

_I was in a cage. Not the first one in my life and unfortunately not the last one either. Two scientists were talking but I could only see up to their knees. I nicknamed them Brown shoes and Black shoes in my mind for obvious reasons.  
__"They must never meet. It's too dangerous" said Brown shoes.  
"For them or for us" Black shoes laughed. Brown shoes laughed as well.  
"The twins must be separated"  
"Yes. One can stay here and I know where we can put the other one"  
A photograph fluttered to the ground.  
"Shoot" Brown shoes said picking it up. I had already seen it though. It was a picture of two infants. Twins he had said. One had light tea coloured skin and jet black hair. She was turned so only half her face was visible. I recognized this girl as myself. The other had the same hair but with pale white skin. Black feathers poked out from behind both children's backs. The boy looked older but the scientists had said that they were twins. I had a twin. I had looked through the numerous cages kept where I was contained but none of them looked like the boy in the picture. We were separated. The boy was a spitting image of Fang. He was my twin.  
_

Angel looked at me surprised. Shoot I had let my mind block down.  
"Don't tell them. I'm not ready yet" I thought to her. She hesitated before projecting a nod in my mind.  
"Can I see your wings?" Nudge asked followed by a cautious look from Max. I hesitated before shrugging my shoulders and letting my 14 feet long wings unfold. They gasped. My wings were black, like Fang's except I had a festive dash of parrot in my DNA. Red streaks ran through the feathers. Raven, parrot and human. One of the smartest birds combined with a bird able to communicate what they know to humankind. Insert into human and bake for 20 minutes. What do you get? A scary smart 14 year old who can outsmart a high specialized trained mad scientist at age 5. Or in other words me.  
"I think it's time for bed" Max said after recovering at the sight of my wings. The younger kids nodded in agreement and lay down, ready for some sleep.

I was sitting with my legs in front of puddle. Iggy had tried to put out the fire before "accidentally" dumping the bucket of water on Nudge and ruining her hair. Iggy may be blind but he acted much more like a fully seeing person. I was staring at my hands change from pale tones to dark tones when I saw a face staring at me through the reflection of the water. Fang.  
"We need to talk" he said. He can talk all he wants but I refuse to speak. I don't know if I still can.  
"I'm sorry for almost killing you earlier". I remained silent.  
"If you don't want to talk I understand". More silence.  
"You should get some sleep. I'll keep watch". I saw that he was still watching me so grudgingly I lay down on the cold, hard ground. I know I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. I didn't need much, an hour at the most. Another benefit of being me. My thoughts were racing and I quietly sorted through them for the rest of the night.

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**Hey guys second chapter! I realize it came pretty soon. I make no promises about when the rest will come. I will try to work on it as much as possible but I have other priorities as well. Shout out to **mystic47 **for the first review. Thank you so much! Question of the chapter: _Which Maximum Ride character do you think you are most like?_**

**Over and out, Storm  
**


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke to the sound of drool dripping on the ground. I will save all you adventurous people out there and say it is not a pleasant experience. I shifted my position slowly so I could get a better view of the uninvited guest. An eraser. He walked past me eying the flock like a kid eyes candy. He didn't see me, a usual for me. I was designed to be small, fast and hidden. I stood up silently behind him. I braced myself and than rocketed toward him, flipping in the air while unfolding my wings, punching in the nose and taking off into the air away from the flock. He turned toward me, than unfolded his own wings and took off after me.  
"Gee, I haven't seen you in a long time!" he exclaimed. I didn't say anything.  
"What's wrong? Did the little birdy forget how to sing?" he said mockingly. I kicked him in the face.  
"That wasn't very nice". We hovered in the air, slashing and kicking each other.  
Do you know the formula for power? For all you non-nerdy people out there, it's mass x speed squared. This means that great speed will beat great mass. As usual, the battle ended with him on the ground and my hands on his throat.  
"Are you going to kill me" he asked morphing back into a regular human.  
It was him. Randal. We were friends back at the school. Our cages were always beside each other. I offered to help him escape but he said he wanted to do it on his own. He was two years older than me and I looked up to him as a role model. He hated that I was always better than him, even though I was younger and smaller. We didn't trust each other but we as good friends as we could be. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and hoisted him to his feet. I gave him a little shove away from me.  
"I should have known you would go to them" he sneered. "This isn't the end". I gave him a small smile before shoving him again. I watched as he unfolded his wings and flew away. 

When I turned around I saw that the entire flock was awake watching me with open mouths. Not surprisingly, Nudge was the first to open her mouth.  
"OMG that was amazing where did you learn to fight like that! I didn't know you were so fast and that was like so awesome! Did you know that guy? Why did you let him go? What was he doing here? What-" Max nudged Nudge.  
"Oh sorry" she said, slightly embarrassed. I hated the way they were looking at me. I didn't like the attention. I felt angry that now they decided to pay attention to me just because of my ability. I mean, it's only because of those stupid scientists that I'm fast.  
"Swallow it" I told myself. "It's like a pill. You don't like it but it's good for you so you swallow it". I swallowed.  
Max narrowed her eyes at me. "How fast can you go?". I shrugged my shoulders.  
"I'll race you". I thought for a moment. If I won, that would prove that I'm fast, but what would that do for me? It would make Max feel uncomfortable and take an affect on her ability to lead. There's nothing more important than the fact that Max needs to lead her best. With these thoughts in mind I lost on purpose.  
"It's not your fault", she said. "I can fly at the speed of light". Fang narrowed his eyes at me, I think he suspected me of losing on purpose. We were twins after all, he knew me better than the others. I shook my head me and mouthed "later". He gave me a small nod.

That day, Max decided that we should go "shopping" for more supplies. "Get some clothes and change into them in the change rooms. Don't forget to rip off the tags. Grab some essentials and first-aid materials and we'll blow this popsicle stand!" she and the flock did some sort of hand shake that involved stacking fists and tapping the back of each hand twice. We took off.

"OMG you look really pretty all you need is for me to do your hair and makeup and you'd be a superstar" Nudge exclaimed, while picking out some bright neon clothes. I was wearing camo-style clothes. I had black loose jeans, a brown t-shirt and a green military style jacket with a billion pockets. I also had some some black skater shoes. I looked down at myself and frowned. I purposely try not to draw attention to myself. While Fang had found all black attire, I found my style concealed me better.  
"Ya you look really pretty!" Angel said, who was wearing a white dress, blue jeans and pink sneakers. She looked deceivingly innocent.  
"Totally" said Iggy. "Love the look". The two girls laughed. I remained unfathomable. Gazzy came up to us and had a little camo thing going on as well except, his clothes were all green and cargo.  
"Where did you find the jacket?" he asked. "It would be perfect for hiding materials to create-" he faltered as Max and Fang approached. He looked at me with wide eyes but I winked assuredly. He smiled.  
"Max! Are you sure I can't do your makeup? I asked Angel and, um, her but they both said no!" Max smiled at both of us.  
"Maybe a different time Nudge" she said with great patience. We walked inconspicuously to the entrance. We bolted through the door just as the alarms went off and took flight.  
"Can you at least tell me your name" Angel thought to me.  
"Fine" I thought back. "Don't tell anyone ok?" she sent me a quick nod.  
"It's Ash". She giggled.  
"Like the guy in Pokemon" she laughed.  
"Like the only thing left after a fire" I replied. She stopped smiling but said brightly "It suits you". What does that mean? 

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**Hey guys! What do ya think? Sorry for the long wait but FanFiction and my internet was glitching. Don't forget to review and give me any suggestions! Thanks to **Rebelangelgirl11 **and **mycaterpie **for reviewing! Really appreciate it! Question of the chapter: _If you were to develop a power, what power would you want?_**

**Over and out, Storm  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Fang Point of View**

I awoke to a hand gently tapping my shoulder. I groggily rubbed my eyes and then jumped back when I saw it was. It was me.  
"Angel" I growled. I then looked around and saw that she was sleeping innocently.  
"Not Angel" the figure said, sounding hoarse.  
"Then who" I asked. I was keeping my emotions off my face, determined not to give him something to use against me. I'll admit I was just a little scared. I remembered Max and her clone and was not looking forward to meeting a clone of myself.  
"Not a clone" the figure said, as if reading my mind. "Conscience" I rolled my eyes.  
"Wow you got me there. I almost believed you" I said sarcastically.  
"All of you mutants have one. They take different forms and come when you are the right age. So far, the only one who has a conscience is Max, and her's takes the form of a voice in her head". I pondered this.  
"How come your voice sounds weird?" I asked. The figure almost winced. It wasn't a real wince but a Fang wince, something so small I almost didn't see it.  
"You can't expect me to get it right the first time. At least I'm not giving you multiple painful headaches". I scowled at this, remembering the pain Max had gone through.  
"What do you want?" I snarled.  
"To talk" came the reply.  
"What about?" I asked.  
"We need a man talk".  
"Right. I think I'm manly enough without your 'man talk'. Is this really necessary".  
"Yes, You keep your emotions and feelings to yourself Fang. You got to cough up the bomb you've been swallowing all your life".  
"So you want me to talk about my feelings?" I asked incredulously.  
"Yes, It only has to be one word". Oh dear.  
"Fine" I growled. Anything to get him off my back. Was I really that annoying?  
"I am feeling cautious. This new kid seems edgy".  
"Thank you" Fang II smiled. "I promise you this will help you in the future".

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**Ash Point of View**

I felt a cool hand brushing over my face. It's motions were light, I barely felt them. I jumped up from the ground where I had been sleeping and stepped back. I recognized the hand's owner, Iggy. He looked surprised and his hand fell to his side.  
"I'm sorry" he said, sounding embarrassed. "I'm blind, it's how I see". I looked at Max who was looking sympathetically at Iggy. I held his hand to my face. His fingers fluttered around my face before feeling the mask.  
"What's this" he asked, confused. I stepped away from him and turned toward the fire.  
"A mask" Max replied. "It covers half her face and she refuses to take it off". I notice that Fang is watching me suspiciously. There was a lot I hadn't explained to my dear brother. He'll survive.

"We have a long journey ahead of us" Max said brightly. "I think it's time we pay France a visit".  
"Because France has a sudden urge to see seven mutant bird kids" Fang muttered. I looked around and saw that no one else had heard him.  
"Can you take a 10 hour flight?" Max asked me. She sounded like a mother. I gave her a quick nod.  
"All right gang. Eat as much as you can because there will be no breaks".  
Everyone dug into the campfire cooked breakfast. I could see Max sneaking food onto the younger kids' plates. I took a small amount; my digestive system had been adjusted so that the maximum amount of energy was being taken from my food. I could survive with one small meal a day, whereas these bird kids needed too eat high calorie foods as often as possible. Max looked at me with shock on her face but quickly dismissed it and went back to eating. Boy, do these kids eat. "All right!" Max said brightly. "France is calling us!". Everyone launched into the air, snapping out their wings and taking big, long strokes. We flew in silence, except for Nudge who was chattering about colours on people.  
"Wow! I just love flying! I never get over that big rush of happiness! I was thinking Max, you would look really nice in a dress; maybe purple or blue? With accents of brown to bring out your eyes! Angel would look really nice in a blue dress! Brings out her eyes and contrasts with her hair! And, um, you would look really nice in a green! Like an olive green? It would go really well with your skin. I really like the tone of your skin! Kind of like a light brown! Like milk chocolate!"  
I looked at her and saw that she was addressing me.  
"Maybe gold makeup to bring out the gold flecks in your eyes! Your eyes kinda look like Fang's! They're both black with gold flecks! Fang you could wear-" She was cut off by the look that Fang was giving her. A death look; which was funny because with his black wings, hair and eyes, against his pale skin, he looked like Death himself. He had a strange look on his face; I noticed this when he woke up. I dismissed it though; he didn't want to talk about it.

I was flying in auto-pilot, looking down at the deep blue sea below me, when I felt a sharp pain in my leg. I looked down and paled at what I saw sticking out. It was a small dart, with a small clear chamber that seemed to have held some sort of liquid. I felt my leg go stiff: I was being paralyzed. The liquid was spreading through my body, eventually immobilizing my limbs and torso. My wings stopped flapping and I was falling, fast. Again. I saw Iggy dive down toward me, I had no idea how he had known since he was blind. He caught me and started flapping his wings, determination clear on his sweaty face.  
"Don't" I croaked out. He seemed surprised that I could speak.  
"Get out of range. Get the others and get as far away as possible". I haven't spoken in nine years and my voice was sore from lack of use. Fang dove beside us.  
"What's going on?" he asked. I looked above and saw that Max and Angel were shot as well. Looking down, there was a dart sticking out of Iggy's neck. "I don't have much time before I am completely immobilized. Fang, carry Max, get Nudge to carry Iggy and Angel to carry Gazzy. Fly away as fast as possible and don't turn back."  
"What about you?" Fang asked. I sighed. After nine years and I'm finally caught.  
"I'll be fine" I said sharply. My mind was becoming groggy. Would the flock be safe? Could Angel carry Gazzy? Could Nudge carry Iggy?  
"Fang, get Angel to tell you. She'll know what I'm talking about. Tell Max-" it was too late. I was paralyzed completely and descending rapidly. My wings were wrapped around me, cushioning me as I plunged in to deep blue waters. My last thoughts were of the flock.

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**Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been rather busy. Thanks to everyone for reviewing! What are you guys looking for in this story? Action? Mystery? Romance? Question of the chapter: _What is the one thing about the world that you would like to change?  
_**

**Over and out, Storm  
**


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